(Castellano) (Euskara)
In an international landscape where manners are lost, where agreements are ignored and where people act according to their own interests, with arrogance and bigotry, it is only natural that this should spread and become widespread. Especially for those who are close to bullies and arrogant leaders, or who have their protection and legitimacy.
This is the case with the Bukele government, which, despite belonging to such a small country (the Tom Thumb of Abya Yala!), thanks to the unconditional support it has received (apart from the material resources for deportations and participation in the anti-cartel coalition), feels it has the legitimacy to operate as it pleases (which also includes quite unacceptable methods). This is especially true because Trump also endorses this and praises Bukele as a “great leader.”
Thus, Bukele continues to persecute activists, but he will also be accused of crimes against humanity: a group of experts will accuse the Bukele government of nothing less than murder, torture, and disappearances at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The group is made up of lawyers and has prepared a report on cases collected over four years since Bukele began the state of emergency (2024 report).
Obviously, four years is an excessive period for a state of emergency, and the objectives for which it was initially implemented, namely to combat gangs, no longer justify it. However, this regime does facilitate social control and, above all, the silencing of critical and opposition voices.
The result is that we now have activists living among us who were forced into exile due to persecution. Other activists are in prison. But this repression takes many other forms, such as the arson attack on the agroecological production facilities of MUFRAS-32 (Movimiento Unificado Francisco Sánchez) in San Isidro (Cabañas).
These projects, in addition to being economic alternatives for these communities, are alternatives to the great threat looming over them and their territory: metal mining extractivism. This is precisely the reason for the attack, as these are communities and organizations that have opposed these extractive projects and cannot impose them by other means. The aim is to intimidate those who oppose them, but also to take over their land, because these lands are adjacent to the El Dorado mine in San Isidro and they want to expand their extraction radius.
In San Isidro (Cabañas), the Pacific Rim mining company carried out a mining exploration in the 2000s that determined the presence of one gram of gold per ton of rock. Obviously, the most profitable way to extract it would be through open-pit mining. The explored area covers 45 square kilometers. 45 km2 inhabited by communities and forests, and land with numerous springs.
Another shocking case related to this mining pressure is once again that suffered by the members of ADES and environmental defenders in Santa Marta. As we have already reported in this media, on October 18, 2025, these five leaders were finally acquitted. Their persecution dates back to 2023 and is a clear consequence of that state of emergency. But after so many years, now the government, through the Attorney General’s Office, is continuing its harassment: now they are trying to overturn the acquittal granted in October!
Once again, we reaffirm the innocence of Teodoro Pacheco, Miguel Gámez, Pedro Rivas, Alejandro Laínez, Saúl Rivas, and Fidel Recinos, and we demand an end to their persecution, which extends to all of Santa Marta and all opposition to mega-metal mining in Cabañas and El Salvador.
Recently, there have also been reports of a social media campaign against German Molina, parish priest of Santa Catalina de Apopa, for his opinions. Molina has been the target of an organized smear campaign.
Statement from the Francisco Sánchez 1932 Unified Movement
As a family and organization, MUFRAS-32, we wish to denounce that on Thursday, February 26, 2026, in the early hours of the morning, we suffered a criminal attack when our agroecological production farm, located on Antigua Street in the Llano de la Hacienda neighborhood of San Isidro, Cabañas, was set on fire. Cabañas, where for years we have presented projects offering alternatives to metal mining extractivism, contributing with actions such as the donation of a water collection tank for the municipality of San Isidro to the municipal water company Emasic, benefiting its population and promoting tree planting campaigns in villages and cantons.
Taking advantage of the absence of our colleagues, criminals arrived in the early morning hours and set fire to the interior of the greenhouses and their surroundings, causing considerable damage to the irrigation system, pipes, drip tape, mesh fencing, and misting system.
For years, this field has served as a primary source of employment, as well as a training ground for alternative fruit and vegetable production for women, men, and young people in the rural area. It has also been a beautiful project where colleagues of all ages, local, national, and international, have come together to share and live together as a family, to build community, and to fight for the defense of the territory and the protection of the Titihuapa and Viejo rivers.
This area provides refuge for endangered animals such as toucans, eagles, armadillos, parrots, parakeets, opossums, deer, and coyotes, which come down the trail to reach the river that borders the property, thus contributing to the municipality’s already degraded ecosystem.
We demand that the authorities—the Police, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office—investigate the origin of this criminal act.
We thank the municipal staff and firefighters who responded to extinguish the fire as soon as they were alerted that the facilities were burning.
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Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
